The Limits of West German Justice in the 1960s: The Post-War Investigation of Walter Gieseke (Oberstleutnant of the Gendarmerie and SS)

Abstract

This article uses a micro-historical methodology to examine some of the complex problems of bringing to justice Nazi-era war criminals in West Germany in the 1960s. It takes as its focus the failure to bring a case against Walter Gieseke, Oberstleutnant of the Gendarmerie and SS. One of the ‘middle managers’ of the Nazi state Gieseke headed a road building project across the Ukraine which resulted in the murder of substantial numbers of Jewish forced labourers. Under questioning he pursued strategies which maximised the difficulties facing the investigating authorities in West Germany.